This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with sensor circuitry for detecting and characterizing a user's movement.
Electronic devices are sometimes provided with motion sensors such as accelerometers that are configured to detect a user's movement. Applications that run on an electronic device may use motion sensor information to track a user's physical activity. For example, a fitness application running on an electronic device may use motion sensor data to log or record how long or far a user runs or walks.
Conventional electronic devices determine what type of physical activity is being performed (e.g., walking, running, etc.) based solely on the output from an accelerometer. Relying exclusively on accelerometer signals to determine what type of activity is being performed by a user can lead to inaccuracies. For example, accelerometer signals that are collected while a user is walking may sometimes look similar to accelerometer signals that are collected while a user is cycling. As another example, accelerometer signals that are collected while a user is climbing a set of stairs may sometimes look similar to accelerometer signals that are collected while a user is cycling.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved ways of using an electronic device to characterize the movement of a user.